Niche Gamer
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If you enjoy timed challenges, kinetic movement, and games that do their best to polish and refine a single mechanic into perfection, then you will absolutely love Pepper Grinder. Anyone looking for something short to play on their Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck will also have a blast with this one.
Until Then made me cry multiple times. Some lines hit me like a ton of bricks and buried me under the weight of their emotional significance. The game allows you to continue after the end and even expedites things a bit. After your first loop, you’re going to want to go back. Remember, “you can always begin again, you just have to find that spark”.
Ultimately, Astral Gunners is a fantastic game which provides an easy-to-pick-up experience for casual bullet hell gamers, while also providing tools for hardcore score chasers to really get into the game. There are a few questionable graphical decisions that pull me out of it, but it’s nothing that can’t be overlooked after I got used to it.
For its price, Felvidek will get players their money’s worth, but RPG fans will feel how short it is and its lack of replay value. The story, writing, setting, and characters are so enjoyable that you’ll wish it kept going. Expect to complete Felvidek in about five and a half hours. In that time you’ll see all that it has to offer and feel the sting of having nothing left. It’s a good sign when a game leaves you wanting more and its price feels fair, and Felvidek is no exception.
As its own game, Samurai Warriors 4 is a really fun experience filled with absurd characters, impractical weapons, and lots of button mashing, but as an updated port, Samurai Warriors 4 DX is simply “fine”, which may not be enough to justify its price tag. It really is one of the better Koei Tecmo ports in recent memory, but then again the bar is not incredibly high.
The town of Orten is a character in itself. It has a thought-out history and everything in it feels like it has a purpose. The problems with Orten Was The Case is how it executes some of its 2D assets, the implementation of the 3D platforming, and the botched attempt at melee. The version on Switch is especially a little more rugged-looking than intended, but any adventure game fan who thinks they can deal with spotty playability will find there is a lot to appreciate with its deep Groundhog Day loop scenario.
Rauniot is also a short game. As far as point-and-click adventure games go, the length is brief even for the genre. Even when getting stuck a few times, I was able to negotiate this game in about five hours. For its price, Rauniot can feel a bit too lean, especially since the climax feels rushed and replay value is low. This is also not a fast-paced game, so the whiplash from the ending compounds on the brevity.
If you enjoyed prior Puppet Combo releases, The Glass Staircase will be as enjoyable. This is a very specific kind of horror adventure game that is like a very brief but hearty challenge. The story and lore are uninteresting and largely forgettable, but the few lines of dialogue there are for the characters are enough to figure out who they are. For its price, it’s a worthwhile cheap thrill that has a few good scares.
The content in Withering Rooms is comparable to what could be expected from a big AAA game. The various gimmicks and mechanics that affect how you play the game always make players consider what to do and how to overcome unbelievable odds. Countless outfits, weapons, enemies, and plenty of imposing boss battles will give gamers a lot of bang for their buck. If you ever thought Bloodborne needed to be 2D and about witchcraft, you have come home.
The Exit 8 is a unique and interesting experience, but not one of substance. The “hidden object” gameplay is very shallow and was designed to be picked up and played by anybody with eyes, thumbs, and index fingers. This is a novel and amusing distraction that works as intended and earns a few good chills when played in the dead of a silent night.
For a game that is about six hours, it is barren and wastes a lot of time by having players tediously walk through vast and empty environments or trudge through forced walking sequences. It is an unsatisfying experience that fails to live up to the original and you still can’t skip cutscenes.
It is a good sign when a tightly paced, dense horror game leaves players begging for more. It’s preferred than a game overstaying its welcome and feeling like you never want to play it again. Crow Country is compact, but I found myself feeling very cozy in its world, never wanting to leave.
Those who simply wish to marvel at a Korean goddess and not concern themselves with a game’s finer details, then Stellar Blade might be the game. It’s a game that wants to be a masterpiece but simply isn’t. It isn’t a bad place for SHIFT UP to start, but don’t censor anything next time.
Megaton Musashi W: Wired feels like it was made to cater to mobile gamers. While it is perfectly playable offline and alone, most of the features and the meat of the experience is the big grind online with players who rush to the end of every mission for loot.
What if Hotline Miami, but 80s anime and first person?
Overall, it was fun to playthrough Reveil. The playthrough we did took about three hours to get through but after seeing what you need to do can probably be done in about two hours. For $19.99, the game is worth checking out; if the game goes on sale then it would definitely be a great horror game to pick up for spooky season.
If you have ever been curious or wanted to try one of the worst games ever made, then it might be finally time to play Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties. The Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties: Definitive Edition makes what was one of the worst games ever made into a fun and comical experience.
Playing El Shaddai portably feels right. The combat system is easy to get into and not having to deal with any camera system makes this game feel very accessible for action game newcomers. El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron HD Remaster is an audio and visual tour de force that you never forget. It makes sense why it was brought back after all these years.
At the end of the day, Nightdive Studios has done a great job with the Star Wars Dark Forces Remaster and would make Lucas Arts proud compared to some other Star Wars titles. Yes, the game isn’t for everyone, but the developers have done a good job of making it accessible to most. The lack of a colorblind mode does seem like a failed oversight when you look at everything they did add, but it doesn’t make or break the game experience.
Ultimately, The Last Spell: Dwarves of Runenberg does what any DLC ought to do, adds new content to the game without making it a convoluted mess. All the new toys in Dwarves of Runenberg make the game even more exciting and I don’t expect fans of the base game will feel it trivializes or bloats the game’s existing strategies.